The landscapes of Slovenia

Slovenia is my favorite country. It has everything that I can dream of when it comes to nature. In canada, I need to travel 6000 kilometers from my place to reach big mountains, and 2000 kilometers to reach the sea. In Slovenia, things couldn’t be more different. The capital Ljubljana, is located in the middle of a country so small that within two hours of car you can reach all the borders of the country! Meanwhile in this small territory, you can find every kind of landscape Europe has to offer you: Alps, uplands, lowlands, the Karst and the magnificent coast.

Over a third of the territory of Slovenia is protected.

Slovenians have a very perticular relationship with nature. This seems to go way back 2000 years ago when the local religion use to venerate the highest mountain of the country (Mount Triglav) as their God. Up to this day this mountain is hold dearly by most and it is displayed on the Slovenian Flag. Climbing this mountain was a greate challenge for my friend and I even though we are quite in shape. Reaching adulthood requires you to climb to mountain all the way to the top.

At the feet of Triglav lies lake Bled. Everybody has seen it on pictures that make you question it’s very existance as it looksto come straight out of a fairytail. I could see myself going back to this lake every week-end for the rest of my life. The ambiance is lively, the restaurants are great and offer a decent price (I strongly recommand Pizza Rustiqa.) A castle at the top of a hill overlooks the lake and the beautiful island in the middle. Drinking a beer on the ledge of the castle during a sunset is a visually stunning experience with the alps in the back changing color slowly.

The Karst region is a limestone plateau that covers the southwestern part of Slovenia. For a long time locals had to face a mystery concerning rivers that suddenly just stoped. As it turned out rivers where drained into sinkholes leading the rivers into massive caves. Many caves that hold World Records can be found there. It felt like exploring the kingdom of the dawrves deep into the mountains of the Middle Earth. For a long time, the population was afraid to explore the caves as they thought dragons lived in them.

The costal region of Slovenia is quite small but still has a lot to offer. In all honesty it isn’t as beautiful as the coast of Croatia and Montenegro but considering it is 1 hour and a half away from the capital it is very accesible. Piran is a city worth visiting it allow you to understand the habitants better and the lifestyle. Unlike Croatia that gets filled up by tourists from Germany and Austria, the Slovenian coast isn’t that touristic. You can get quite a lot of delicious Gelato for one euro and that makes me happy.

Different features also make this country my favorite like the several wine regions accessible throughout the country. The lowlands are home to the horses of Lipicia. These horses are born black and turn perfect white as they age. So I strongly suggest next time you go to Venicia you take a 5 days to go visit Slovenia; you won’t regret it.